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Cricket-mad Bangladesh is currently football-mad. The ongoing World Cup is not just watched in this country, but also celebrated in every corner, dominating most conversations. The visiting Indian players were welcomed by flags of Brazil and Argentina in the buildings overlooking their training ground in Dhaka. There’s little cricket paraphernalia for what is the BCB’s first marquee home series this season. International cricket, even if it is India’s first ODI in Bangladesh in seven years, will have to jostle for space.Bangladesh have qualified for the ODI World Cup next year, but they will not want to take the foot off the gas. India, with their first-choice players back in the squad, would want to start well, and lead into their home World Cup in October next year strongly. This series, remember, is not part of the World Cup Super League, but that shouldn’t reduce the intensity.Related

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• Litton to lead Bangladesh in ODI series against India

• Many contenders but little opportunity as India ring in changes

• Injured Shami ruled out of ODIs against Bangladesh

• 'It's not the ultimate goal' – Tamim on World Cup qualification

Rohit Sharma is back as India’s ODI captain, with KL Rahul his deputy. Virat Kohli has also returned to the side. The star players’ comeback in this format indicates India are starting their preparation for the next year, after sending a second-string side to the recent tour of New Zealand.However, this also means the likes of Ishan Kishan, Rajat Patidar and Rahul Tripathi might not get as many opportunities, as the top and middle orders are loaded with big names. With Mohammed Shami ruled out of the ODIs, and several allrounders like Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar in the mix, it will also be interesting to see how India balance their side with the match being played on the slow Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch.Bangladesh will be missing the services of two star players: Tamim Iqbal, the regular ODI captain, who had earlier pulled out of the series because of a groin injury, and Taskin Ahmed, who was ruled out of the series because of a back injury.Both players have been in good form in ODIs. Tamim has led the side to direct qualification for the World Cup while scoring important runs, and Taskin is seen as the lynchpin of the pace attack these days. Litton Das, who will lead the hosts, has a major role to play with the bat, too, opening against a solid Indian bowling attack.Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli are back in the ODI side•AFP/Getty Images

Litton will have seniors in Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah to bank on, while the likes of Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali and Anamul Haque will be expected to step up in their respective roles.Mustafizur Rahman, who broke through in India’s last ODI series in Bangladesh in 2015, has to lead the attack now, sharing the duties with Hasan Mahmud and Ebadot Hossain. Mehidy Hasan Miraz has risen to the challenge this year, often proving handy when the chips are down .India would not want to take Bangladesh lightly this time, particularly at home where the hosts have not lost a bilateral ODI series since the defeat to England in October 2016. Meanwhile, Bangladesh will rely on their experienced players to get them through.

Form guide

Bangladesh: WLLWW
India: LWWLW

In the spotlight

Virat Kohli is 30 runs short of becoming the second overseas batter to get 1000 runs in ODIs in Bangladesh, where he averages 80.83. In good form in T20Is of late, there couldn’t be a better place for Kohli to get back into rhythm in ODIs after averaging 21.87 in eight games in the format this year.Litton Das has been in excellent form this year•Getty Images

Litton Das has scored 500 runs in ODIs this year while averaging 62.50. But there is an added responsibility this time, leading the side in Tamim’s absence. How he responds to the new test will be interesting to see. The Bangladesh captaincy has, of late, been quite a story.

Team news

Shakib batting at No. 3 should mitigate Tamim’s absence. It would also allow Bangladesh to play an extra batter, which will likely be Yasir Ali. Taskin is also missing, which means Ebadot could get the nod for his pace.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Litton Das (capt), 2 Anamul Haque, 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Yasir Ali, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Hasan Mahmud, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Ebadot HossainWith Shami ruled out of the series, young quick Umran Malik has been called up. Unless India decide to give Kuldeep Sen a debut, it is likely that both Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar will play.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Pitch and conditions

It is going to be a typical Mirpur pitch but not the raging turner we see often in Test cricket. The Shere Bangla Stadium last hosted an ODI in May 2021, and the pitch has mostly produced scores on the higher side for the teams batting first. Dhaka is cool this time of the year, with no rain forecast.

Stats and trivia

• Litton now has the most runs (1703) in a calendar year in all formats for Bangladesh, and is the second highest in 2022 behind Babar Azam.
• Bangladesh have won only five ODIs against India since 1988. They beat India the last time when the two teams met in 2015.

Quotes

“This format is such that we play well each time at home. We’ll miss two of our main players, but we still believe that who we have with us are very capable”

Aiden Markram has been named the Sunrisers Hyderabad captain for IPL 2023.Markram, 28, recently led Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 title, where he also finished as the tournament’s third leading run-maker.Related

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Sunrisers had to fill the leadership role after releasing Kane Williamson ahead of the IPL auction last December. The first player retained by the franchises ahead of the mega auction in 2022, Williamson struggled for form as Sunrisers failed to make the playoffs last season finishing eighth. Williamson missed the final league match last season to return to New Zealand for the birth of his child following which Bhuvneshwar Kumar took over the reins.It is understood that Bhuvneshwar, who has been with the franchise since its inception in 2013, along with Mayank Agarwal (bought in the December auction) and Markram were among the contenders for the leadership position. Markram was chosen for the role by the Sunrisers team management, which is led by Brian Lara, who was appointed as head coach ahead of the auction.In SA20, Markram proved he could excel both as a captain and a batter while leading Eastern Cape. Alongside making 369 runs at a strike rate of 127 including a century, Markram also bagged 11 wickets at an economy of 6.19 with his part-time offspin – enough to earn 596.6 points and top the Total Impact charts calculated as per ESPNcricnfo’s Smart Stats tool.Sunrisers paid INR 2.6 crore to buy Markram at the 2022 auction. In that season, Markram scored 381 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 139.05 and an average of 47.62.

New Zealand allrounder Daryl Mitchell rues the “small moments” that slipped away from their grasp in the first Test in Mount Maunganui, but insists that there isn’t a gulf between his team and England.”If you looked into that third innings, I think we had them six down for 230-240 – I’m not sure of the exact numbers – but if we had taken a couple of quick wickets, the game could have been a lot different,” Mitchell said after arriving in Wellington for the second Test.”So, for us, it’s actually not too far away. It’s sticking true to who we are as Kiwis and Blackcaps, and what’s worked for us for a number of years now. Yeah, we are missing a couple of small moments now, which is disappointing, but we also know that’s the nature of Test cricket, and it’s not always going to go your way, and it can be a bloody hard game at times. But we also know we are not too far away.”Related

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One of those small moments was New Zealand allowing England get away to 374 in their second innings after they were 237 for 6. England’s innings had threatened to spiral out of control when Joe Root fell to the reverse sweep for the second time in the Test at the stroke of tea on day three. But a composed half-century from Ben Foakes, and swift cameos from captain Ben Stokes and No. 9 Ollie Robinson powered England that far.Stuart Broad then tore through New Zealand’s top order under the Mount Maunganui floodlights to put the fourth-innings chase of 394 well beyond the hosts’ reach.New Zealand coach Gary Stead lamented New Zealand’s inability to throw the sucker-punch during that passage of play, which changed the mood and tempo of the game.”I thought there were times through this Test we did that really, really well,” Stead said. “I think in that second innings when they were 230 [237] for 6, if we could’ve bowled them out in the next hour, then we bat [for] a good period of time in the daylight as well with the softer ball. They are the little variables that affected us in this Test match, but looking forward to the challenge that’s ahead because we know that’s a big challenge.”Matt Henry is in, and Jacob Duffy is out for the second Test at the Basin Reserve•Getty Images

New Zealand suffered a big blow ahead of the Wellington Test, with Kyle Jamieson ruled out for another three to four months with a suspected recurrence of a back injury. So far, they have also resisted the urge to recall Trent Boult, who has handed back his New Zealand central contract, with Stead backing the current group to bounce back against England.”They [England] are obviously playing very, very good cricket,” Stead said. “I think they’ve won 10-11 of their last 12 Tests, and they’re on a bit of a roll and playing with some real confidence. I don’t think it’s unfair to say we’re probably lacking a little bit of that confidence at the moment because you don’t get the results.”But I can assure you that the faith is still with the group of these guys. We believe that these are our best cricketers, and we’re going to put everything behind them to make sure we can go out there in Wellington and really some throw punches back at England as well.”New Zealand, however, will be boosted by the return of Matt Henry, who has linked up with the squad after his partner Holly gave birth to their daughter last week. Henry is set to directly slot into the XI at the Basin Reserve in place of either Scott Kuggeleijn or Blair Tickner.”He’s obviously a seasoned bowler in international cricket now,” Mitchell said of Henry. “It’s awesome that he has just had the birth of his little girl, and I know he’ll be excited to come and join this group and hopefully take some wickets, which will be awesome. And yeah, I’m sure he’ll be pretty proud to do that with his little girl watching on TV.”Matty is my domestic team-mate at Canterbury as well, so it’s always nice having him in this group. He’s a fierce competitor, he will keep running in for you, he’ll do the job. Look forward to having him back. I think we will all do our job and see what happens.”Reserve seamer Jacob Duffy and legspinner Ish Sodhi have been released from the Test squad for the four-day Plunket Shield competition that will resume this week.

Henry looking forward to ‘taking it’ to England in Wellington

Henry is the top wicket-taker in the Plunket Shield this season, with 23 strikes in three games at an average of 11.69. But injury sidelined him from the ODIs in Pakistan and India. Having been passed fit, Henry is now looking forward to returning to action in front of a sell-out crowd at the Basin Reserve.”Not ideal with the injury – torn knee and everything,” Henry said. “So, it has been a bit of a rehab for the last few weeks. But it has been good; kind of ones of those ones where you look forward to playing some cricket. No better place to do it than the Basin.”Always well-supported here in Wellington. The Basin always has a great crowd and to hear it sold out for the first three days is amazing, and playing against England… the style of cricket they’ve been playing is an exciting one to watch as well. It has been cool to watch them play in that first game, and I’m sure everyone has learnt a lot from that first game as well and look forward to taking it to them come Friday.”The weather could play spoilsport in Wellington, with showers and strong winds predicted on the first day.

Amelia Kerr and Matt Henry won top honours at the New Zealand Cricket Awards on Wednesday. Kerr won the Debbie Hockley Medal for being the women’s cricketer of the year while Henry took away its men’s counterpart, the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal.Kerr, 24, won the top honour for an unprecedented third consecutive year in a row. She starred in New Zealand’s maiden Women’s T20 World Cup win last year. She finished with 15 wickets, the most in the competition, and 135 runs, the third-most for New Zealand. She was named Player of the Match in the final and took home the Player-of-the-Tournament award as well and later was named ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year, winning the Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy.At the NZC awards, Kerr also swept away the Women’s ODI and T20I Player of the Year awards. She averaged 33 with the bat and returned 14 wickets in ODIs. She captained Wellington Blaze to the title, and her 441 runs along with 15 wickets earned her the Women’s Super Smash Player of the Year.”Melie’s consistency, skill, and passion for the game are an inspiration to us all, and I couldn’t be prouder to see her name etched alongside mine once again,” Debbie Hockley said while announcing the winner.Apart from the men’s cricketer of the year honours, Henry was also named New Zealand Men’s Test Player of the Year. He picked up 25 wickets at an average of 20.08 in five matches, including eight wickets in the Bengaluru Test against India last year. Henry was also named the ODI Player of the Year, thanks to his 24 wickets at an average of 15.50. He was instrumental in New Zealand finishing runners-up at the Champions Trophy.Matt Henry completed 100 Test wickets on the tour of India•BCCI

Jacob Duffy was named the Men’s T20I Player of the Year after his 21 wickets at 9.71 made him No. 1 in the ICC men’s T20I bowler rankings. Kane Williamson won the Redpath Cup for men’s first-class batting, while Henry won the Winsor Cup for men’s first-class bowling.Eden Carson picked up 40 wickets in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield, New Zealand’s 50-over domestic competition for women, and starred with an unbeaten 59 off 43 balls for winners Otago in a thrilling final. That saw her being named the Women’s Domestic Player of the Year.The Bert Sutcliffe Medal for outstanding service to cricket was awarded to historian Francis Payne. It was in recognition of his contributions to the documentation and preservation of New Zealand cricket history, most notably through his long-standing, 42-year role as co-editor of the New Zealand Cricket Almanack, a publication regarded as the definitive resource for followers of the Kiwi game.Chris Gaffaney, who is in the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires for 2025-26, was named the Umpire of the Year.

2025 New Zealand Cricket Awards winners

Debbie Hockley Medal – Amelia Kerr
Sir Richard Hadlee Medal – Matt Henry
Bert Sutcliffe Medal for Outstanding Services to Cricket – Francis Payne
Test Player of the Year – Matt Henry
Men’s ODI Player of the Year – Matt Henry
Women’s ODI Player of the Year – Amelia Kerr
Men’s T20I Player of the Year – Jacob Duffy
Women’s T20I Player of the Year – Amelia Kerr
Men’s Domestic Player of the Year – Brett Hampton
Women’s Domestic Player of the Year – Eden Carson
Super Smash Men’s Player of the Year – Tom Bruce
Super Smash Women’s Player of the Year – Amelia Kerr
Redpath Cup (men’s first-class batting) – Kane Williamson
Ruth Martin Cup (women’s domestic batting) – Maddy Green
Winsor Cup (men’s first-class bowling) – Matt Henry
Phyl Blackler Cup (women’s domestic bowling) – Eden Carson
New Zealand Umpire of the Year – Chris Gaffaney

Rohit Sharma will fly to Australia over the weekend after the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru cleared him following a final assessment, which included tests of both his skills and his fitness. ESPNcricinfo understands that Sharma will take a charter flight from Mumbai to Dubai, from where he will fly to Sydney on December 13 and be available for selection for the last two Tests of the four-match series.Upon reaching Sydney, Sharma has to undergo a mandatory hard quarantine of 14 days in a facility separate from the bio-secure bubble in which the Indian Test squad is currently in. That, as reported by ESPNcricinfo earlier, will prevent him from being in the mix for the first two Tests (December 17 to 21 in Adelaide and December 26 to 30 in Melbourne). Sharma is expected to integrate with the Indian squad after Christmas in Melbourne, subject to the travel restrictions between Sydney and Melbourne, and should then be in contention for the final two Tests, in Sydney from January 7 and in Brisbane from January 15.It is understood that the NCA, helmed by former India captain Rahul Dravid, sent Sharma’s final assessment report to the BCCI in the last two days.There had been confusion around Sharma’s status – and availability for the Australia Tests – over the past few weeks, with even captain Virat Kohli saying that he had been kept in the dark on the subject. Sharma had initially been left out of India’s tour because of the hamstring injury he picked up during the IPL, with the BCCI saying he would be “monitored”. Sharma sat out four matches for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL after picking up the injury, but returned – after being left out of the squads for the Australia tour – to lead his team to the title. He was subsequently named in the squad for the last two Tests, subject to how his rehabilitation at NCA went. Sharma had travelled to the NCA mid-November to carry out his rehabilitation, and left for Mumbai on Thursday.He is fit to travel now, but it is unclear what the protocols for Sharma’s integration into India’s bio-secure bubble in Australia are. While there is the question on whether he will come out match ready after a 14-day quarantine, the eight-day gap between the second and third Tests – which begins on January 7 – is understood to have encouraged the management to have the senior batsman in the mix.Rohit Sharma and his Mumbai Indians claimed the big prize•BCCI

At the NCA, in addition to the medical staff, Sharma was monitored by both Dravid and Sunil Joshi, the chief selector. Dravid and Joshi focussed on Sharma’s skillsets. The BCCI wanted Sharma to go to NCA to get proper training and treatment on his hamstring before he could be considered fit for Test cricket; Sharma made the cut with both his batting and his fielding.For Sharma, the hamstring injury was the second major one he picked up this year after tearing his calf earlier on in New Zealand, which had ruled him out of the Test leg of the tour. Then, on October 18, while taking a tight single in an IPL 2020 league match against the Kings XI Punjab, Sharma tore his left hamstring.On November 9, in an update on Sharma, the BCCI said the selectors had decided to “rest” the batsman in order for him to complete his rehabilitation and be in contention for the Test leg in Australia. Sharma then travelled back to India immediately after the IPL to attend to his ailing father, who is well now.It is understood that both the BCCI and the selectors wanted to be fully convinced about Sharma’s fitness considering the expected workload in Test match cricket, when compared to the IPL, and didn’t want to send him Australia with the rest of the squad from the UAE. Also, if he had gone directly to Australia, he might not have received the attention he did at the NCA, considering India were playing white-ball cricket.Sharma is expected to continue with his fitness sessions during quarantine in Sydney.Sharma’s addition to the Test squad is a big boost for India, especially because Kohli will return to India after the first Test to be with his wife for the birth of their first child.

Pakistan’s high-risk, high-reward tactics finally bore fruit after two failed attempts as the Salman Agha-led side stormed to a nine-wicket victory against New Zealand in an enthralling battle that saw 411 runs being amassed at Eden Park. Hasan Nawaz’s maiden T20I century outplayed Mark Chapman’s 94 as Pakistan chased down 205 in just 16 overs and kept the five-match series alive at 1-2.Pakistan backed their new openers Nawaz and Mohammed Haris in the post Mohammed Rizwan-Babar Azam era and they repaid the faith by putting up a 74-run opening stand off just 35 balls to lay the perfect foundation for the chase. Salman capitalised on the flying start to score 51 not out and was involved in an unbroken 133-run second-wicket stand. Nawaz, who was coming off two successive ducks, blazed away the fastest hundred by a Pakistan batter in T20Is, off just 44 balls, in a sensational chase.

Chapman powers New Zealand

Chapman’s blistering knock off just 44 balls set New Zealand up for what seemed like an above-par total at the innings break. After losing Finn Allen for a three-ball duck in the first over by Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tim Seifert (19 off nine) and Chapman pushed New Zealand past early jitters. Seifert fell to Haris Rauf in the fifth over but Chapman didn’t slow down.He pulled and hooked the short balls, brought out beautiful cover drives against seamers and punished loose deliveries from Abrar Ahmed and Shadab Khan. He brought up his fourth half-century against Pakistan off 29 balls. This was also his first T20I fifty in almost a year.Mark Chapman kept up his stunning form against Pakistan•AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan got the much-needed breakthrough in the tenth over when Daryl Mitchell (17 off 11) chased a wide delivery of Shadab and miscued to Rauf. Chapman kept finding boundaries, however, even when Pakistan captain Agha brought himself on and leaked 13 runs off his only over.His strong bottom-hand and exceptional placement saw him smash 11 fours and four sixes. He was eventually deceived by an Afridi slower ball in the 13th over.Pakistan fought back with quick wickets including two double-wicket overs from Rauf and Abrar but Michael Bracewell’s 31 off 18 ensured New Zealand crossed 200.

Pakistan’s blazing start to chase

After two disappointing outings, Haris and Nawaz gave the visitors a dream start. Haris began with two sixes off Kyle Jamieson’s first over of the innings and followed it up with two fours against Jacob Duffy. Nawaz had a tough time early on with his timing but still found boundaries through streaky edges. Pakistan reached their joint-fastest team fifty in men’s T20Is, in four overs.Duffy removed Haris for a 20-ball 41 with a bouncer in the sixth over and Pakistan ended the phase with 75 for 1, their highest powerplay total in men’s T20Is, moving past the 73 they scored against England in 2016.

Nawaz takes off, Agha supports

Nawaz rode his luck but made sure to hang around. He was not particularly convincing against short balls early on but he was able to see the balls more clearly as the innings progressed. Though he started the chase playing second fiddle to Haris, Nawaz took charge after the powerplay.His first confident strike came against Ish Sodhi in the seventh over, when he picked a loopy googly and clubbed it over long-on for a six. He brought up his maiden T20I fifty off 26 balls in the ninth over and propelled Pakistan to 124 for 1 at the halfway stage.Nawaz was dropped on 68 by Sodhi off Ben Sears’ bowling but New Zealand couldn’t do much on a batting-friendly pitch with dew also making the task hard for the bowlers. Nawaz eventually hammered ten fours and seven sixes in his 45-ball stay.Unlike Nawaz, Agha was precise and clever in his batting that fetched him six fours and two sixes. The duo scored 65 runs in the last four overs of the chase to take the team home early.Nawaz brought up his century off the penultimate ball, before Pakistan completed the fastest 200-plus chase in men’s T20Is.

Tilak Varma was retired out, and Hardik Pandya farmed the strike. But the last-ditch effort wasn’t enough for Mumbai Indians (MI) to register a come-from-behind win against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their IPL 2025 game on Friday night.LSG have now won six of their seven games against the five-time champions, and this one in Lucknow was on the back of half-centuries from openers Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram, and a game-changing spell of 4-0-21-1 from Digvesh Rathi.For MI, Naman Dhir made an explosive 46, and Suryakumar Yadav continued to show form with a 43-ball 67. But LSG’s death bowlers – special mention to Shardul Thakur – stood tall against the experienced MI batting line-up.

Avesh and Thakur close it out

With 52 runs needed in the last four overs, ESPNcricinfo’s forecaster gave MI a 36.9% chance of winning. With Suryakumar and Tilak at the crease and Hardik to follow, it seemed closer to 50-50.Related

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Avesh Khan changed that by dismissing Suryakumar to start the 17th over. The batter pre-meditated a sweep, and he went through with it despite the ball being well outside the off-side tramline. The catch was taken at deep-backward square-leg.Hardik, the next batter in, and Tilak, got a boundary each in the over, but couldn’t get Rathi away in the next one. Thakur bowled yorkers in the 19th – at the stumps as well as wide ones – and with another 24 runs needed off the remaining seven balls, MI decided to retire Tilak out and bring in Mitchell Santner.Two runs from Santner off the last ball of that over from Thakur, in which just seven runs were scored, left MI an improbable 22 runs to get in the final over. Hardik was on strike, and although he launched Avesh over cover to start with a six, Avesh continued aiming for yorkers, and conceded just three runs off the five deliveries of the over.The forecaster was right, after all.

Suryakumar, Dhir give MI a chance

MI had gotten themselves into a good position despite stumbling early in the chase. Dhir and Suryakumar took charge after MI lost Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton, their openers, in near-identical fashion: both hit hard-length balls to deep-backward square-leg.Dhir was remarkably still at the crease, and hit boundaries down the ground and through the leg side to get to 30 off his first nine balls. Suryakumar, meanwhile, swatted Avesh over the leg side as MI brought up their 50 in five overs. Akash Deep and Ravi Bishnoi were hit for two boundaries each right after the powerplay.1:17

What makes Digvesh Rathi such a tricky bowler to face?

But Rathi broke the flow with a legspinner’s carrom ball that angled in off a shortish length, beat Dhir’s flick, and hit the stumps. Suryakumar, though, continued to find the boundary without taking too many risks. His ability to manipulate the field was on display in the 11th over when he first played the square drive and then the cover drive to pick up two fours. Tilak, too, picked up an early boundary but couldn’t get going.MI got 88 for 1 in the middle overs despite not hitting a single six. They had set batters at the crease for the big finish, and it looked like they were well placed. But LSG’s death bowlers made all the difference in the end.

Marsh and Markram lay LSG’s foundation

Earlier, LSG made 69 runs in the powerplay after being put in to bat. Marsh made 60 of them off 31 balls, with nine fours and two sixes. He was caught behind off Trent Boult in the first over, but neither the bowler nor his team-mates heard the nick as Marsh tried driving through the covers.Marsh took advantage. He was severe against full balls, and the lofted off-drive off Boult for six in the third over was a highlight. When Santner was introduced in the fifth over, Marsh picked up two boundaries, both off the back foot.Ashwani Kumar bowled a quiet first over but went for 23 runs off his second with two boundaries down the ground – through square leg and cover – as Marsh got to a 27-ball fifty. But he fell against the run of play by handing a return catch to Vignesh Puthur in his first over, the seventh of the innings.1:03

Boucher: Markram ‘perfect’ up front for LSG

Hardik chips away but LSG push along

Nicholas Pooran was LSG’s in-form batter, and he looked in business straightaway, smacking Santner for a four and a six. But Hardik’s slower bouncer first accounted for Pooran, and then for the out-of-form Rishabh Pant, who got a leading edge off an attempted flick to mid-off.Markram hit a couple of sixes while batting with Pant, but got back to playing second fiddle as Ayush Badoni played himself in. Markram got to his fifty off 34 balls, off what was the 99th ball of the innings.Badoni was on 6 off his first nine deliveries before breaking free with three back-to-back boundaries off Santner, who finished with 0 for 46, his third-most expensive spell in a T20. Badoni scooped Ashwani on the fifth ball of the 16th over, but was out caught behind next ball trying to repeat the shot as the bowler went wider.In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik bowled two overs at the death and picked up three wickets, starting with that of Markram with the offcutter. Only four fours were hit between overs 16 and 19, and MI would have hoped to restrict LSG to under 200.David Miller, though, whacked a six and a four off Hardik, and brought up his 3000th IPL run in the process to start the final over. Hardik bounced back with Miller and Akash Deep’s wickets in two balls, but conceded 15 runs in the end and LSG got past 200.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMinister Rajshahi’s succumbed to a 36-run defeat at the hands of Gazi Group Chattogram. Rajshahi finish the tournament’s league phase with two wins out of eight games, having now lost six matches on the trot.Rajshahi could only reach 139 for 8 in 20 overs, chasing 176. Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das added 122 runs for the opening wicket, with both scoring fifties. Soumya struck four sixes and three fours in his 48-ball 63, while Liton struck five fours and a six in his 55 off 43 balls. Having added 365 runs in the tournament so far, with three fifty-plus and now a century stand, Soumya and Liton are the best batting pair in the tournament.After both fell, there was enough time for Shamsur Rahman to hammer three sixes and a four in his unbeaten 18-ball 30, taking Chattogram to a competitive total.It was an ordinary effort from the Rajshahi bowlers, exacerbated by young pace bowler Rejaur Rahman who bowled two beamers in the 19th over, both of which Shamsur smashed for sixes. Anisul Islam Emon took two wickets while Mohammad Saifuddin and Rejaur took one each.In reply, Rajshahi lost their top three – captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, Emon and Rony Talukdar – within the first 5.2 overs. Nurul Hasan and Mahedi Hasan brought a semblance of fight to their approach, but both batsmen fell inside the 15th over, leaving Saifuddin and the rest of the lower order with a tall task.Chattogram’s Nahidul Islam took three wickets while Ziaur Rahman took wickets. Left-arm quicks Shoriful Islam and Mustafizur and left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan took one each.Chattogram now face Gemcon Khulna in the first qualifier of the playoffs phase on Monday.Mohammad Naim cuts en route to his knock of 105 from 64 balls•BCB

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFortune Barisal scraped through to the playoffs of the Bangabandhu T20 Cup with a two-run against Beximco Dhaka, who, to their credit, nearly toppled their 193-3 total if not for a late stumble. Dhaka opener Mohammad Naim struck his maiden T20 century, a thrilling 105 off 64 balls that included seven sixes and eight fours.Sumon Khan’s six-run penultimate over, when 23 was needed off the final two overs, was what took Barishal to the top four. There was even an outside chance at one stage that Dhaka threatened to reach Barishal’s target within 18.3 overs, which would have put Minister Rajshahi through on net run-rate.Naim and Yasir Ali added 110 runs for the fourth wicket after Sohrawordi Shuvo, the veteran left-arm spinner, took the first three wickets, conceding just 13 runs. Yasir struck two sixes and a four in his 28-ball 41, that was the perfect foil for the marauding Naim, who peppered the straight field at every opportunity.But when Naim and Yasir fell in the 19th over, Akbar Ali and Muktar Ali had to take 17 off the last over. Both hit a six each, but Rabbi managed to keep them at bay, by the barest of margins.Barishal’s 193-3 in 20 overs came through three half-centuries, from Saif Hassan, Towhid Hridoy and Afif Hossain. Saif’s 43-ball 50 included eight boundaries, mostly in the Powerplay, as he added 59 for the opening stand with Tamim Iqbal. From the 14th over, Hridoy and Afif took over, hammering a 91-run for the unbroken fourth wicket stand, including a whopping 78 in the last five overs.Afif’s 50 came off 21 balls, and included five sixes and one four. Hridoy smacked four sixes and two fours in his 22-ball 51. Dhaka’s bowlers, especially Muktar Ali and Robiul Islam Robi went for a fair few, having bowled so well in most of the league phase matches.