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Rinku holds his nerve to guide India through after late implosion
Josh Inglis smashed his maiden T20I century, but Suryakumar Yadav responded masterfully in his captaincy debut to lift India past Australia in a tense series opener.
Just four days after being part of Australia’s World Cup title, Inglis tore apart a new-look India attack in batting friendly conditions in Visakhapatnam with 110 off 50 balls. He dominated a second-wicket partnership of 130 with Steven Smith, who made 52 and was the only other Australia player fronting up from the World Cup final.
But Suryakumar also shrugged off World Cup weariness with a belligerent 80 off 42 balls. There was a late twist after Suryakumar’s dismissal with India losing a slew of wickets and they needed one run off the final delivery.
But Rinku Singh calmly bludgeoned a six off seamer Sean Abbott, who had delivered a no-ball, as India drew first blood in the five-match series.
Inglis equals Finch’s record
The tight scheduling of this series has been widely mocked and underscored by both teams fielding second-string teams. But with the T20 World Cup just over six months away, there was plenty at stake for a number of players.
Smith and Inglis had points to prove. Smith has openly stated his desire to bat at the top having auditioned for the role late in last season’s BBL and peeling off consecutive centuries.
Opening a T20I for the first time, Smith relished a grassless surface and quick outfield with three boundaries through the off-side in his first eight deliveries. But he was completely overtaken by a rampaging Inglis, who came in at No.3 after the wicket of opener Matthew Short in the fifth over. Playing as a specialist batter, with skipper Matthew Wade taking the gloves, Inglis hit a boundary off his first ball and didn’t slow down from there.
He toyed with the quicks and spinners by unleashing his full range of strokes around the wicket. Inglis’ superb knock was highlighted by pinpoint placement, while he showcased a liking to get deep into his crease and hit over extra cover.
Having reached his century off 47 balls, Inglis equalled Aaron Finch’s record that had been set a decade ago.
Tough captaincy start for Suryakumar
After a remarkable lapped reverse to the boundary from Inglis, all Suryakumar could do was grin. It was a tough initiation for Suryakumar, who was captaining India for the first time having been in charge of Mumbai 36 times across formats in domestic cricket.
He was proactive and rotated his bowlers in the powerplay, getting spinners Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi into the attack. But nothing worked amid Inglis’ onslaught as Suyakumar resorted to giving his team a pep talk during the drinks break.
Things could have been more grim had it not been for seamer Mukesh Kumar, who bowled superbly at the death.
But Suryakumar stands up with bat
Suryakumar did not enjoy batting on a slow Ahmedabad surface in the World Cup final. He was unable to do much against Australia’s clever tactics of bowling slower bouncers. Suryakumar much preferred this harder surface, while facing up to a second-string Australia attack. He hit two sixes off his first six balls to get India back on track after the early wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was run out without facing a delivery.
On such a flat surface, Australia didn’t revert often to their slower ball bouncer tactic, but Suryakumar almost holed out on one such delivery bowled by left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff.
He was well supported by wicket-keeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who only played in two early games at the World Cup. They slammed a 112-run partnership with Suryakumar taking over after the wicket of Kishan with a trademark assault to all corners of the ground. He also overcame cramps in what proved to be a memorable captaincy debut.
Sangha impresses under pressure
With Adam Zampa resting, legspinner Tanveer Sangha had his opportunity after not being used during the World Cup. It loomed as a baptism of fire with Sangha copping a thumping from Kishan in the ninth over. Wade boldly reintroduced Sangha four overs later with Kishan and Suryakumar well set.
But Kishan could only hit straight to deep extra cover after Sangha changed his line and Wade decided to stick with him for the 15th over. Sangha repaid the faith by removing Tilak Varma with a googly to finish with 2 for 47 from 4 overs.
Brief scores:
Australia 208/3 in 20 overs (Steven Smith 52, Josh Inglis 110, Tim Dvid 19*; Prasid Krishna 1-50, Ravi Bishnoi 1-54) lost to India 209/8 in 19.5 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 21, Ishan Kishan 58, Suryakumar Yadav 80, Rinku Singh 22*; Tanveer Sangha 2-47, Jason Behrendroff 1-25, Mathew Short 1-13, Sean Abott 1-43) by two wickets
(Cricinfo)
A total of 146 players will be competing for 27 available slots in the WPL 2027 mini auction on October 28 in Kochi. Of these, England batter Sophia Dunkley and Australia captain Sophie Molineux are the only two players who have listed themselves at the maximum base price of INR 50 lakh.
The auction pool has 119 Indian players, including 22 capped and 97 uncapped players, with 20 slots available for Indian players. The overseas pool has 27 players – 14 capped and 13 uncapped – including six from Associate teams, with seven slots available.
G Kamalini (released by Mumbai Indians), Kiran Navigre (released by U P Warriorz), Heather Graham and Jess Jonassen have registered at the second-highest base price of INR 40 lakh, while a total of 30 players have registered at INR 30 lakh.
Among the notable absentees are West Indies allrounder Deandra Dottin, who was released by UPW, and Australia legspinner Alana King, who was released by Delhi Capitals. Lizelle Lee, who was DC’s highest run-scorer last season, has also not listed herself after being released by the franchise.
What the teams look like going into the auction
Only two English players – Dunkley and Kira Chathli (INR 10 lakh) – have registered for the auction, with several others, including Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Alice Capsey, Dani Gibson, Lauren Filer and Linsey Smith opting to skip the WPL next year.
Cricinfo has learned that England are likely to play three T20Is in Sri Lanka in early February, which will clash with the final week of the WPL. While the ECB is likely to allow players to stay in India to complete the tournament, most players have instead chosen to prioritise their international commitments ahead of the Champions Trophy later that month.
The relatively low salaries on offer at the WPL are also understood to be a factor in many English players deciding not to register, with most internationals earning significantly more to play in the Hundred (up to £190,000 last year) than the highest permitted base price in the WPL of INR 50 lakh (£40,000 approx).
Molineux was part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru [RCB] title-winning squad in 2024, and had bagged 12 wickets in ten games at an economy rate of 7.31. She was retained by RCB for the 2025 season but a knee injury ruled her out of the season. Dunkley, meanwhile, played for Gujarat Giants [GT] in 2023 before opting not to register for the 2024 season. She went unsold in the 2025 auction.
Among the premier internationals who have listed themselves for INR 30 lakh are Australia allrounder Grace Harris (released by RCB), Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu, South Africa left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba and South Africa allrounder Chloe Tryon.
UPW, who released nine players, will go into the auction with the biggest purse of INR 3.75 crore.
[Cricinfo]
Pakistan withstood a middle-order counterattack from Pavan Rathnayake and Janith Liyanage to see off Sri Lanka by 37 runs. In the first match of a tri-series that also includes England, the pair appeared to have put Sri Lanka on course with a 119-run fifth wicket partnership, with the visitors well in front and requiring just 55 from the last seven overs. Liyanage’s wicket, however, saw the bottom fall out of the side, with Sri Lanka losing their last five wickets for 15 runs to allow Pakistan to breathe a sigh of relief.
The win had been set up by Salman Agha, who marked his return to the Pakistan side with his fourth ODI hundred to hold off a collapse and steer the hosts past 300. By the 22nd over, Pakistan had lost four wickets, and looked vulnerable with a relatively long tail. However, Salman’s 90-ball 107 navigated Pakistan expertly out of danger with sizeable partnerships with Hasan Nawaz and Arafat Minhas.
Sri Lanka deprived Shaheen Afridi’s side of a big finish, though, with Eshan Malinga and Asitha Fernando striking multiple blows in the death overs to ultimately bowl Pakistan out for 305. Those runs they had left on the table looked set to cost them dear at the climax of the context. The dew had set in, and Rathnayake and Liyanage were beginning to reverse Pakistan’s early dominance that had seen them skittle Sri Lanka’s top four with few dents made to the chase.
Afridi rotated his cast of bowlers, but aside from Naseem Shah, there appeared no remedy to the free flow of runs. Haris Rauf, Minhas, Saim Ayub and Afridi himself were all worked over, particularly by Rathnayake, who was especially methodical in the way he timed his innings to dance in tune to the required rate. Afridi was sensationally blown out of the attack with a pair of pulled sixes off the hips, in stark contrast to Pakistan’s own struggles against the short ball.
A pair of tight overs from Faheem Ashraf finally induced Rathnayake into a false stroke as he spooned one to Salman at short cover, only for Dasun Shanaka to pick up the slack. But with 53 runs to go, Liyanage chipped Rauf to long-on, and Pakistan blew the house down. Afridi prised Shanaka out the following over, and though the tail limped on briefly, it was only a matter of time.
Pakistan will look back fondly at their dominance in the first 25 overs, which closely mirrored Sri Lanka’s own success in the first innings. Sri Lanka’s top order was ineffective in keeping pace with the asking rate, and Naseem bowled a tidy spell up front, which included the wicket of Avishka Fernando. Ashraf took a sharp catch after Saad Baig dropped the skier, the allrounder showing good reflexes to scoop the ball up. It was, all told, a difficult evening behind the stumps for the debutant, and, in truth, a poor day out for Pakistan’s fielders throughout the innings.
Sri Lanka’s fortune with the toss had carried over to the ODI series, and they inserted Pakistan in Rawalpindi. There was early swing on offer, but it was the extra pace from Dilshan Madushanka that accounted for both openers. Ayub and Fakhar Zaman were both undone by the short delivery, leaving Babar Azam and Baig to rebuild.
The duo put on 74 and were beginning to get the asking rate ticking upwards. However, Babar’s frustrating recent knack of giving away auspicious starts reared its familiar head once more. Malinga was Sri Lanka’s quickest bowler through the innings, and he landed one short that rushed onto Babar, who was late on the pull just five shy of a half-century. Soon after Baig, who had shown promise as well as a willingness to pull rather than back away from bouncers, miscued one himself, holing out to deep fine leg.
It was precisely the sort of situation Salman – dropped from both the Test side and T20 captaincy in the last two months – thrives in, rebuilding during the middle overs of an ODI. He did so flawlessly, halting Sri Lanka’s momentum while staying on top of the run rate, keeping the strike ticking along, and adeptly covering for Nawaz, who had made a more sluggish start. He capitalised when Sri Lanka erred by turning prematurely to Kamindu Mendis’ spin, taking 11 off the 25th over to turn momentum around.
Sri Lanka began to look more toothless with the ball through those middle overs as Salman’s comfort grew. He dominated the stand and brought up his half-century off 48 balls. Nawaz had begun to loosen his shoulders too, illustrated by a six off legspinner Sachindu Colombage, but Asitha rooted him out the following over, ending the fifth-wicket stand ay 97. Salman played a similar shepherding role with Minhas for the sixth wicket, the pair putting on 64, with Salman once again taking on the lion’s share.
Twenty-six runs came off the 44th and 45th overs, but just as Pakistan looked for a big finish, Sri Lanka’s bowlers hit back. Minhas and Salman fell trying to hit sixes, and Pakistan’s lower order soon followed, with Malinga getting rid of Ashraf and Naseem off successive balls. A pair of lusty blows from Afridi allowed Pakistan to scratch past 300.
For long stretches of Sri Lanka’s chase, it appeared as if Pakistan’s unproductiveness in those death overs would cost them. Instead, on a dewy early autumn night in Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s pace attack – which shared nine wickets between them – ensured Salman’s efforts would not be wasted.
Brief scores:
Pakistan 305 in 49.5 overs (Babar Azam 45, Salman Agha 107; Eshan Malinga 4-46, Asitha Fernando 3-59, Dilshan Madushanka 2-67) beat Sri Lanka 268 in 48.1 overs (Kamindu Mendis 44, Pavan Rathnayake 79, Janith Liyanage 60; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-55, Naseem Shah 2-43, Haris Rauf 2-48, Faheem Ashraf 2-49) by 37 runs
[Cricinfo]
An estimated 550,000 people took part in demonstrations across France today to protest against teaching conditions in schools, rising fuel prices and the cost of living.
Marches were largely peaceful and took place in several major French cities, including Paris, where 110,000 people attended.
“We just want to study, we just want a future” one student taking part in the protest in the capital told BBC News, while another said they were ” just trying to make things change”.
But French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said some groups “at the margins of these protests” caused the situation to “degenerate”.
According to the French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, 1200 people were arrested. Officials also reported looting in cities such as Marseille, where masked 8ntruders also entered the city hall. In Lyon, the tourist office was set on fire and shops were damaged.
French President Emmanuel Macron said any vandals and looters would be “prosecuted and punished”, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise, said demonstrations had been calmly mobilised.
Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing to battle a blaze at Limoges City Hall after a reported break-in and arson inside the 19th-century building during protests there.
(BBC)
Heavy showers about 100 mm are likely at some places in the Northern, North-central, Central, Eastern, North-western and Uva provinces
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