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A packed Wanderers had to watch their team lose disappointingly, that too to an Aussie side!

Stacey Naidoo29-Oct-2012Choice of game
I chose the final of the Champions League Twenty20 because I felt a match between the home favourites, the Highveld Lions, and the unbeaten Sydney Sixers would be a fitting end to an exciting tournament.Team supported
Living in Johannesburg, it was almost mandatory to support the home team. In addition, I felt they needed all the support they could get, coming up against an Australian team that had not lost a match in the tournament. We all know how the Aussies hate to lose!Key performer
I thought the bowling unit of the Sixers performed magnificently, but Nathan McCullum was the standout performer. He took Gulam Bodi’s wicket in the first over, and by the time he picked up his third wicket (in the 14th over), he had reduced the roar of the Lions and their supporters to a mere whimper.One thing I’d have changed about the match
In a game that ended up being a bit of a damp squib, I would have liked to see the Lions put a bit of heart into their defence of the paltry 121, to at least give their die-hard fans something to cheer about. I left the game feeling the Lions had not done their best. Dropped catches and wides were the order of the day during the chase.Face-off I relished

There weren’t too many interesting battles to choose from. Seeing McCullum and Thami Tsolekile battle during the first innings was interesting. I felt Tsolekile was looking to increase the run rate and was about to win the battle when McCullum took his wicket.Crowd meter
The stadium was packed with a crowd that was clearly partisan. In the first innings, they cheered every single the Lions got and went into raptures with the odd four or six. The spectators were vocal and involved, slow-clapping to encourage the Lions to get boundaries. When the Lions bowled, the crowd booed the umpire when a wide was called. Halfway through the Sixers innings, people realised that the game was over and started to cheer every great shot. There was a collective sigh of disappointment when Bodi dropped what would have been a wonderful catch, off Aaron Phangiso’s bowling. Now and again, the Mexican Wave would go around the stadium. It kept the fans warm and helped make a lot of noise, so that was great.Entertainment
We were entertained by some lively music and wonderful fireworks for the sixes, and at the end of the game there was a magnificent pyrotechnic display to signify the close of an exciting tournament. Some of the music could definitely be applied to the Lions – “I’m wide awake”. The Lions’ lethargic running while batting and their mistakes while fielding showed they really needed to be wide awake! Of course “Let me entertain you” was extremely appropriate, because the Sixers entertained us during their batting.ODI v Twenty20?
I have always preferred the 50-over game. It gives me time to enjoy the finesse and strategy used and to note the technical expertise of the players. In Twenty20 cricket, one gets used to fours and sixes, and when there are not many, like in this game, the crowd gets bored.Overall
The quality of cricket was excellent, in terms of the Sixers performance. They have a focused and dangerous bowling unit and powerful batsmen and excellent fielders. Because of the one-sidedness of the game, though, I would rate the quality of cricket as 6. The Lions did not show what they were capable of. But in spite of my team losing, it was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday evening. The rain stayed away so it was a beautiful evening to be out on the Highveld. I would rate the overall experience as 8, especially as it was a final of a tournament.

Michael Neser and Mark Steketee were outstanding for Queensland but couldn’t quite pull it off

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Feb-2022Chris Tremain held his nerve to guide an inexperienced New South Wales side to a gripping two-wicket victory over Queensland at the Gabba.At the end, he had Harry Conway for company who firstly survived eight deliveries and then hit the winning run off Mark Steketee.Moments earlier, with seven runs still needed, Tremain survived a run out appeal when he came back for a second to third man. Jimmy Peirson did superbly to flick the ball back onto the stumps and replays showed Tremain was short by a few inches but TV umpires are not part of the Sheffield Shield.Tremain then levelled the scores with a thumping straight drive off Michael Neser who had matched Steketee with three wickets in the innings including removing Baxter Holt with eight runs required.”Those last three hours were very nerve-wracking, I could not sit down,” Daniel Hughes, who top-scored for the match with an unbeaten 86 in the first innings, said. “That is a huge win with the very inexperienced side that we have.”They were so good, and their attitudes were awesome. To play a full-strength Bulls team at the Gabba, and get a win, is a huge credit to the lads and I’m proud of them. That side that we put out is the future of NSW cricket. The talent is definitely there – we have to be patient with them.”Neser and Steketee were superb throughout the match as they shared 14 wickets and regularly chipped away at New South Wales’ run chase.The target of 137 – after Queensland had lost 7 for 28 in their second innings – immediately looked much more imposing when Steketee got one through Ryan Hackney in the second over and Hughes edged a terrific delivery from Neser in the third.Jason Sangha was lbw to Jack Wildermuth and after Jack Edwards had been caught at slip off a no-ball from Steketee he fell to the same bowler when he clipped a catch to square leg to leave New South Wales 4 for 49.Lachlan Hearne and Hayden Kerr briefly settled things but Neser returned to trapped Kerr lbw and Hearne’s hard work was undone as the left hander chipped a catch to mid-on where Marnus Labuschagne made good ground.When Trent Copeland was also given lbw – a more borderline decision – New South Wales needed 17 with three wickets in hand at tea. Holt, playing just his third first-class match, faced 75 balls for his 20 to get the target down into single figures only for his departure to ratchet up the tension again.Just two half-centuries were scored in the match and Queensland could only add another 24 runs after resuming on 5 for 105. Copeland and Tremain did the damage while James Bazley was run out after being given little chance when Neser called him through for a single to midwicket.

Manchester City and Newcastle United should be able to spend more freely in the transfer market, according to the 'godfather of PSR'.

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• 'Godfather' of PSR says state-owned clubs should spend freely
• De Marco fought Mendy's case against the Cityzens
• Comparison made with billionaire Musk

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Famous British sports lawyer Nick de Marco, who is often known as the 'Godfather' of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules, has urged the authorities to allow clubs like Man City and Newcastle to spend more freely on their transfer targets. He has fought several high-profile cases in football, including Benjamin Mendy's £11m in unpaid wages claim from City.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The 57-year-old further explained his stance on transfer spending by bringing in the example of American billionaire Musk as he drew a comparisons between the X (formerly Twitter) owner's wealth and state-backed clubs like the Cityzens and the Magpies. De Marco, however, advocated some sort of check to be present to maintain a balance in the league.

• WHAT HAS BEEN SAID

  Speaking to the , the senior counsel said, "There is nothing unsustainable about how Manchester City, Newcastle or other [similarly owned] clubs are run. They are very sustainable. The new point people are making is about competition. I understand there may need to be some upper caps. But let's not get diverted into this argument about whether it is state-owned or not, which, of course, there are legal points about.

  "Imagine if Elon Musk bought a club in the Premier League. He must have a personal wealth of more than many states in the world now. You see how he has taken over Twitter, now X, and completely changed it. He is very powerful. Would it be any different if it was a private individual or a state? I think the focus on state is a bit of a mistake. I think owners should be allowed to invest a bit more money if they want to but they have to guarantee it so they can't just pull the plug."

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  WHAT NEXT?

  City and Newcastle will be back in action in the Premier League on Wednesday as they face Nottingham Forest and Liverpool respectively. The reigning champions, who have lost their last four league games, will aim to get back to winning ways at home.

Following the arrivals of Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro, Manchester United are still reportedly in talks to sign a midfield reinforcement, despite seeing "several" offers already knocked back.

Man Utd transfer news

The Red Devils can consider the summer transfer window a success so far. They've welcomed a young striker in an attempt to solve their goalscoring problems and welcomed one of the best young defenders that European football has to offer in the form of Yoro, who also had interest from the likes of Real Madrid. In a major coup, those at Old Trafford secured the 18-year-old's signature, adding a solution to the heart of their defence for years to come in the process.

Man Utd struck gold on "future legend" who's worth more than Yoro & Ugarte

He’s been an excellent servant during his time at Old Trafford.

By
Ethan Lamb

Jul 24, 2024

Manchester United may not end on two arrivals, however, with Erik ten Hag's squad one that still has plenty of room for improvement, which could yet see the likes of Noussair Mazraoui arrive. The Bayern Munich defender has reportedly been the subject of concrete talks between Manchester United and the Bundesliga club, though a deal is yet to be agreed.

He's not the only one who's reportedly the subject of negotiations, either. According to Florian Plettenberg, Manchester United's negotiations are "ongoing" to sign Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain, despite having "several verbal offers" already knocked back by the Ligue 1 champions who are demanding €70m (£59m) for their midfielder this summer.

The Uruguay international certainly has a hefty price tag, but those at Old Trafford have been more than willing to splash the cash so far this summer and could yet do so once more before the end of the transfer window.

"Superb" Ugarte would be major upgrade on Casemiro

When looking at Manchester United's woeful campaign last time out, it was easy to spot weaknesses going forward, within their backline and, perhaps most prominently, at the base of their midfield as Casemiro began to edge past his best. Now, with two of those problems seemingly solved, the Red Devils must welcome an upgrade on the Brazilian in the form of Ugarte this summer.

Off the ball, in particular, Ugarte outperformed Casemiro last season and the Brazilian is only likely to gradually decline more and more on that front at 32 years old. His potential replacement, meanwhile, is still just 23 years old and has plenty of time to discover new levels.

The PSG star has earned plenty of praise over the years, including from Football Talent Scout's Jacek Kulig, who dubbed his ability to read the game "superb". Now, it's Manchester United who could benefit from that ability, should they finally decide to match PSG's reported price tag this summer.

With his selection uncertain and his role in the side fluctuating, New Zealand selectors are failing to lure the best out of James Franklin

Andrew Fernando in Pallekele29-Sep-2012James Franklin is one of the most enigmatic figures in New Zealand cricket. When he first made it into the national side 11 years ago, he was a bowler who could bat a bit. Strangely, he was mediocre with the ball and surprisingly talented with the bat.The selectors may have been tempted to drop him for failing to perform in the role he was picked for, but given he became a bona-fide member of New Zealand’s lower-order bailout squad in the mid 2000s, alongside Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram, they often couldn’t afford to leave him out. Innings like his brilliant unbeaten 45 in Queenstown, where he brought home a difficult chase against Sri Lanka from No. 8 with only the tail for company, prevented him from slipping back down into the domestic circuit completely.Franklin is a polarising figure at home. To some, he epitomises everything that is wrong with New Zealand’s selection policy; another jack-of-all-trades whose lack of consistency continues to scuttle New Zealand’s efforts to become a major cricketing power. The detractors need only to look at Franklin’s numbers to find fuel for their fire. His ODI bowling average is over 40, and his Test and Twenty20 figures don’t inspire a lot of confidence either. With the bat, he averages in the low twenties in all three formats. A few years ago, Franklin was told by the national selectors to put his bowling on the backburner, and focus on his batting, which they believed had potential but was not getting the attention it deserved. He is now picked in the side primarily as a batsman – but his scores have not shot up dramatically enough to justify his selection on that discipline alone.That he was left out of the New Zealand tour of West Indies, so he could focus on his Twenty20 cricket for Essex with the World Twenty20 approaching, then called up for the India Tests after 18 months away, sums up the muddled thinking.But occasionally, Franklin comes off. And to cloud the issue even more, he has lately performed as a bowler. In the Super Eights opener, his 2 for 34 was the catalyst in Sri Lanka’s slowdown. The hosts seemed destined to reel in New Zealand’s score at a canter, but Franklin proved difficult to get away and counted the explosive Thisara Perera among his scalps when it was crucial New Zealand didn’t allow Perera the room to explode. In the recent T20 against India in Chennai too, Franklin failed with the bat, but his 2 for 26 was instrumental in New Zealand’s victory and their taking momentum into the World T20. But with good bowling form behind him, he was not required until the 12th over against England in a crucial match.Franklin’s batting, though, clicked against England, and he played the kind of innings that first marked him out as a batting talent. With New Zealand threatening to collapse at 67 for 4 in the 12th over, Franklin rebuilt alongside Ross Taylor, before letting rip with a spate of boundaries at the death. His 50 off 33 balls will justify his selection on batting grounds, but perhaps it should not gloss over a failure to consistently produce results since being asked to play as a batsman. In his last 30 innings across all formats, Franklin has made fifty only three timesPerhaps this inconsistency is not entirely Franklin’s fault. Eleven years after making his debut, New Zealand’s team management have failed to stick to a clear plan for him. If he is to play as a batsman, is he a finisher, as he was against England, or an opener, as he was against Bangladesh early in the tournament. At other times in his career, he has been given extended runs in the middle order and even higher up.The Franklin detractors will be quietened for a while after a decent all-round showing at this tournament, but they are sure to make themselves known as soon as failures return. The New Zealand selectors have shown they will have Franklin do almost anything to bring him into the team. If they are going to be so persistent with picking him, perhaps they would do well to define what they want from him. If they play him as a batsman, or as a bowler or as an allrounder, rather than all three when it suits, perhaps consistency in their demands will help Franklin build dependability into his own game. As he has proved repeatedly, he has the talent to be successful; it just needs to be pushed in one very specific direction.

Tottenham have looked at signing an £85 million striker for Ange Postecoglou, coming after his excellent goal tally of 28 in all competitions last season.

Spurs targeting replacement for Harry Kane this summer

One item on Spurs' list of summer agendas is to finally replace club-record goalscorer and Lilywhites legend Harry Kane, coming nearly a year after he departed for Bayern Munich in a multi-million pound deal.

Postecoglou really wants £35 million star at Tottenham with talks ongoing

The Australian is personally eyeing a move.

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By
Emilio Galantini

Jul 9, 2024

The 30-year-old has gone on to make 45 appearances in all competitions for the Bavarians thus far, scoring an incredible 44 goals and registering 12 assists in that time, and Spurs were tipped to really miss Kane's proficiency over Postecoglou's debut campaign in the dugout.

Tottenham did manage to cope well without their former superstar, though, with Postecoglou even recording the best start made by any new manager in Premier League history. The bulk of their goals came courtesy of Son Heung-min and Richarlison, who grabbed 29 between them with a further 14 assists to boot across all competitions.

However, there are some doubts over Richarlison's suitability to lead the line going forward, despite the Brazilian's phenomenal mid-season purple patch. Reports have suggested that Tottenham are even open to selling Richarlison for the right offer, amid interest from Saudi Arabia.

A host of interesting options have been named as striker candidates on Tottenham's summer transfer wishlist. Ivan Toney is thought to be attracting Spurs interest, with the England star contributing well when called upon by Gareth Southgate at Euro 2024.

The 28-year-old, who racked up 20 league goals the season before last, has entered the final 12 months of his contract – which could force Brenford to sell for a lower than desired fee.

Toney isn't the only striker linked with a move to N17, as Sky Sports detail other names they've been considering in a report this week.

Tottenham have looked at signing Lois Openda from RB Leipzig

As well as the likes of Lille striker Jonathan David, Sky claim that RB Leipzig star Lois Openda is a target for the Lilywhites as well.

Spurs are after a forward with versatility, and the 24-year-old is thought to fit the bill in this respect. Tottenham have looked at signing Openda for Postecoglou, despite other claims he could cost as much as £85 million, but it remains to be seen if they decide to formalise their interest with an offer to test Leipzig's resolve.

This isn't the first time they've been linked with Openda, who scored 28 times and provided seven assists last term, and pundit John Wenham believes he'd be an "interesting" potential replacement for Richarlison.

“I watched Openda in the Champions League a couple of times this year and I was impressed,” Wenham said to Tottenham News, “He has a real mix of pace and excellent finishing ability. He looks like someone who could also play out wide, so he would be an interesting replacement for Richarlison."

Harry Kane changed up his celebration after yet another hat-trick, following Jamal Musiala's imitation of the striker after his October treble.

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• Kane scores fourth hat-trick of the season
• Musiala jokingly mocks Kane's hat-trick ritual
• Kane changes up post-match celebration in response

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  It shouldn't really count as news at this point, but Kane bagged yet another hat-trick for Bayern Munich on Friday night, something which is becoming a boring spectacle for anyone who isn't English or a Bayern Munich fan.

  The sight has become so frequent that instead of having to think about different celebrations for individual goals, Kane now has to come up with varied celebrations following a hat trick as well.

  Jamal Musiala hilariously impersonated Kane's predictable post-hat-trick behaviour following another triple for the Englishman in October, and Kane has obviously been brewing over that for the last three weeks or so, as he made a point of mentioning Musiala in his post-match video uploaded to his Instagram.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Kane's hat-trick against Augsburg saw Bayern move eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, with Red Bull Leipzig sitting in second on 21 points. A goal difference of +29, it is nearly triple that of the next closest team, and Kane's goal have played a significant part in that. He already has 14 in the league, three ahead of second-placed Omar Marmoush.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR KANE AND BAYERN?

  With a comfortable cushion at the top of the league, Bayern seem to be coasting to the Bundesliga title, but tougher fixtures lie ahead. French champions Paris Saint-Germain visit the Allianz arena on Tuesday night for a Champions League fixture, before they play Borussia Dortmund and last season's invincible champions Bayer Leverkusen in the space of four days. Should they come through those fixtures with their track record unblemished, then they will be on track for the league title they failed to grasp last season, with Kane winning his first piece of major European silverware in the process..

Adam Hollioake added to coaching staff after Covid-19 isolation rules hit tourists

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Dec-2021England’s batters have been given a “wake-up call” and an “education” by Australia’s bowling attack in the first three Ashes Tests. That is the view of Graham Thorpe, their assistant coach, who will stand in for the self-isolating Chris Silverwood in next week’s fourth Test at the SCG.The stats from the first three Ashes Tests make grim reading for England’s batters. Their highest team total is 297 and there have been no individual hundreds, while Dawid Malan and Joe Root are the only players to have made half-centuries, or to average more than 30 in the series. The three batters that England have used who are under the age of 30 – Haseeb Hameed, Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley – have made 130 runs between them across 12 innings.Related

• Kevin Pietersen wants 'franchise competition for red-ball cricket' to raise England Test standards

• The opening act: Rory Burns is off, way off

• Head tests positive for Covid, Australia scramble for replacements

Thorpe said that the lack of Lions tours and training camps over the last 21 months due to the pandemic meant that England’s young batters were learning “the basic skills” of Test cricket on the job, and suggested that county cricket was not providing adequate preparation.”With some players it’s a wake-up call,” Thorpe said. “It could actually kick-start their careers because they’ve started training in a very, very different way. They actually start to train smart. They don’t waste time hitting half-volleys.”I don’t mean that in a bad way but they actually deal with the actual nitty gritty side of international cricket, playing high-quality spin, high-quality pace bowling and learning how to put pressure back on. If a guy’s bowling well, [they have to] get through it for six, seven or eight overs.”County cricket is what it is. You’ve got to lift players out of there, then educate them into international cricket. There have been no Lions tours and no training camps for our younger players to actually learn the basic skills of the game as well. They’re trying to learn it in county cricket, but the truth is when they come out of county cricket, they have to learn it again, because Test cricket is 10 times harder.”We are still trying to educate some of the younger guys into the rhythm of Test match batting: playing situations in the game and doing it for long periods of time. Some of them haven’t been able to do it yet. Some of our young players are getting an education and if they didn’t know before, they understand how tough Test cricket is now.”Thorpe has been working extensively with Rory Burns, who was dropped for the third Test after making 51 runs across four innings on the tour – including being bowled round his legs by the first ball of the series. After 31 Tests, Burns averages 30.92 with the bat and his idiosyncratic technique has come under scrutiny in Australia.”I told him: ‘you’ve played 30 Test matches and you average 30, so we want you to be doing more, to be better than that as a player,'” Thorpe said. “So we’ve had discussions with him – does he need a major overhaul of his technique or just to tinker with things?”He needs to do the simple things better. So can he calm things down with his movements and everything? We’ve been talking him through that. It’s tough in competition. Everyone says do you work with them? Yes you do, but you can’t pick away at people’s brains too much walking into Test matches. Sometimes they have to come out and then you can reset a little bit.”When players get a little bit of success they then think, ‘My way is the right way’. And there’s a balance to it. You can see certain things. I said to him, ‘The best bowlers in the world are going to analyse your technique and the right-hand column is going to tell you whether you’re getting it right or not’.”We’ve seen he’s got a good fighting character, so I know that. But at the same time you need a technique and temperament at the highest level. I think he can come back again and play for England definitely but he’s very clear those little adjustments are going to help him to stay at the crease longer.”Thorpe is one of only three England coaches available to take training, alongside Ant Botha and James Foster, with Silverwood, Jeetan Patel and Jon Lewis all self-isolating. As a result, they have asked Adam Hollioake – the former England one-day captain and a team-mate of Thorpe’s at Surrey – to travel to Sydney from his home on the Gold Coast to support their coaching staff, though under Cricket Australia’s Covid protocols he is only allowed to work with the players outdoors.

Lucy Bronze warned her colleagues to "think about life after football" as the Chelsea star believes they aren't paid enough to retire on salaries.

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• Bronze wants peers to get "smart" with money
• Insists salaries wouldn't last them their lifetime
• She has been investing to beat that trap

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Bronze believes that despite the growing popularity and revenue in women’s football, only a tiny fraction of players, approximately 0.01 per cent, are in a financial position to retire comfortably. The 33-year-old England international acknowledged that while she personally could manage a stable retirement, most of her colleagues will need to consider future career options.

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  WHAT BRONZE SAID

  Addressing the disparity, Bronze explained how her financial planning and disciplined lifestyle have allowed her the possibility of retirement, a privilege few of her peers in the sport can enjoy.

  "Probably 99.9% of women's players… you have to think about life after football," she told

  "I don't live a crazy lifestyle with crazy cars or houses. So I could retire and live on my investments. I've been smart with my money, I've paid off student loans throughout my career. I know I've been successful in teams with a lot of money… I'm probably in that top per cent."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Bronze’s comments come on the heels of revelations by former England captain Steph Houghton, who reflected on her early career earnings. Speaking to the BBC, Houghton shared that during her time with Arsenal, she received an annual salary of just £4,000 and through bonuses, a part-time coaching stint and a club ambassador role she managed to reach £9,000.

  "It was never about the money when I joined Arsenal," said Houghton to . "Now I look back at those figures and I think 'oh my god'. I was living in London, although I was fortunate that the club paid for the apartment. At the same time, to live off that and try and save for a house, simple things we all do as human beings, it was quite tough to do."

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Bronze also addressed the impact of England’s historic Women’s Euro 2022 victory, which brought newfound recognition to the Lionesses and increased visibility to the women’s game. Reflecting on her own experience, she explained that her personal career rise was more of a gradual process, and the Euro win, while transformative, didn’t dramatically alter her life as it might have for less established players.

  "I didn't have to go from 0 to 100 overnight. I had a steady buildup throughout my career," she said. "Winning the Euros – it changed things, but I'd already had that experience."

Australia’s 82-ball win is the biggest T20I victory between two full-member teams in terms of balls remaining

Karthik Krishnaswamy04-Nov-2021It was deja vu all over again for Bangladesh. If it was South Africa in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, it was Australia in Dubai on Thursday, and the punishment on this occasion was even more severe. Sent in to bat, Bangladesh were bowled out for 73, their fourth sub-100 total of the year in T20Is, and their second of the tournament.It was the result of some superb bowling – particularly from Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood early on and then from Adam Zampa, who polished off the lower order to pick up his maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is – but the batting was quite dire for most part too. There was a sense that Bangladesh simply sleepwalked their way to their doom, with a number of their top-order batters getting out to shots of imprecise intent, neither attacking nor defensive.

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Having started the day with a net run rate that was worse than South Africa’s by more than a run per over, Australia suddenly had a chance to leapfrog their nearest rivals in a tight semi-finals race. They began their chase knowing that they’d leapfrog South Africa’s NRR if they won in 8.1 overs or less. And their captain Aaron Finch brought to this task exactly the intent that was required. It was a slog a ball, virtually, and although there were a number of swings and misses, he also connected enough to slap his way to 40 off 20 balls. That innings set the tone as Australia romped home in 6.2 overs, leaving a massive 82 balls to spare.With that performance, Australia moved to second on the Group 1 table, equal on points with South Africa but with a superior net run rate – 1.031 to their 0.742. Both teams have a tricky final group game on Saturday; Australia take on West Indies, who may or may not still be in contention by then, and South Africa meet the group’s runaway leaders England.2:15

Nafees: Very painful for me to watch my team crumble

Starc, Hazlewood crash through top order
Starc began the match with three attempted yorkers aimed at the stumps. Mohammad Naim blocked the first one and inside-edged the second to fine leg for a single. The third angled across the right-handed Liton Das before swinging in late. Das pushed at it with an open face, looking for a single into the covers, and inside-edged into his stumps.That set the tone for Bangladesh’s top-order collapse, as two more wickets fell to strike-rotating attempts in the next two overs. Soumya Sarkar played on to Hazlewood while looking to steer him to third man, then Mushfiqur Rahim was lbw while looking to work Glenn Maxwell into the leg side. Bangladesh 10 for 3.The Adam Zampa show
By the time the powerplay ended, Bangladesh had lost another wicket, Hazlewood’s extra bounce cramping Naim into a miscued pull in the sixth over. Thereafter, it was all Zampa.He struck with his first ball, and the mode of dismissal – a wrong’un floated across the left-handed Afif Hossain and finding his edge – repeated itself two more times with slight differences in the variation out of the hand or the length. Zampa could have had a hat-trick too, had Matthew Wade clung on to another outside edge from a left-hander at the start of the 15th over, but the ball plopped out of his gloves and Taskin Ahmed survived. Not for long, though, as Zampa ended the innings with the fourth and sixth balls of the same over.Only three Bangladesh batters got into double figures – the opener Naim, the captain Mahmudullah, and Shamim Hossain, who provided the innings its only real moments of spark when he slog-swept Starc and Zampa for a four and a six soon upon arrival.Finch’s intent leads Australia home
Were Australia looking at their NRR target? The first over answered the question emphatically. Only four runs came off it, but Finch swung and missed at two balls outside off stump, and went hard at a pull that he failed to middle.The intent would soon find its reward. Sometimes it wasn’t quite off the middle of the bat – a four through extra-cover off Mustafizur Rahman in the second over, a miscued leg-side whip that just cleared a leaping Soumya Sarkar in the third – and sometimes it was – a flicked six off Mustafizur, a lofted drive over extra-cover off Taskin – and the runs simply kept coming. David Warner chipped in as well, with a trio of fours in the fourth over, and Australia were romping home with ease.Both Finch and Warner were bowled while attempting big slogs, but they’d done their respective jobs by then. Mitchell Marsh, recalled in place of Ashton Agar for this match, finished the job in the seventh over, clattering Taskin for a four over mid-off and swatting a short ball over the midwicket boundary to seal the deal on a near-perfect day for Australia.