Afghanistan, Australia postpone scheduled ODI series; Cricket Australia to allow players for IPL

ENG vs IND | Stuart Broad flags injury issues in England camp, says bowlers are in 'red zone'

Warning the rest of the players as well as the fans, England fast bowler Stuart Broad has said that he will not be the only player getting injured in the ongoing series between England and India. The 35-year-old, who was ruled out of the India Test series after sustaining a tear to his right calf in the warm-up ahead of the second clash at Lord’s, claimed that due to a long summer, other English players are equally vulnerable to injuries. "Sadly, I won’t be the last England injury of this series — not with the GPS ‘red zones’ as they are for players right now. The difficulty with the 2021 schedule being so white-ball dominant is that bowlers have just not built up overs in the bank," Broad wrote in his column in Daily Mail. Broad further added that the bowlers are in a “red zone” and the workload needs to be managed. "This summer, as there wasn’t even any second XI Championship cricket in the weeks before this series started, that hasn’t been possible, and so every single one of our bowlers was in that red zone when the first ball was sent down at Trent Bridge,” he said. The right-arm fast bowler, who has represented England in 149 Tests, only managed to pick one wicket during the first Test that ended in a draw in Nottingham after rain played spoilsport on the last day of the clash while the home side took a lead in the first innings.

ENG vs IND | 2nd Test: My finger on lips celebration is for critics, says Mohammed Siraj

India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has stamped his authority with the ball right from the word go in his Test cricket and he has been among the wickets consistently. The right-handed pacer registered a four-wicket haul in the first innings of the second Test against England at Lord’s and came up with a “finger on lips” gesture. Siraj later explained about his celebration saying that it was directed towards the critics who had questioned his abilities. “This story (celebration) is for the haters (critics) because they used to say a lot of things about me like he cannot do this and cannot do that. So, I will only let my ball do the talking and hence this is my new style of celebration,” Siraj said at the virtual post-day press conference after the third day’s play of the second Test. The hosts rode on a brilliant ton from captain Joe Root who remained unbeaten at 180 to post 391 in reply to India’s 364, before getting bundled out for 391, taking a 27-run lead in the first innings against the visitors. Apart from Root, Jonny Bairstow notched up a half-century as well. The home side was looking pretty stable at one stage and was eyeing a big lead when Root and Bairstow were batting and then once again when Root and Moeen Ali were batting. But Ishant Sharma pulled things back for India, dismissing Moeen and Sam Curran on consecutive deliveries and returned with a three-for in the innings. India will now begin the second innings on Day 4.

WI vs PAK | 1st Test | Day 3: Match poised for thrilling finish after Babar Azam's half-century

Skipper Babar Azam and Vice-Captain Mohammad Rizwan did well to steady down the Pakistan second innings after the visitors came under threat at 65-4 after trailing by 36 runs in the first innings. With just 29 runs added to the dead, it was important for the two to take the responsibility and get the scoreboard ticking. However, earlier in the day, West Indies were able to add only a couple of runs to their overnight score of 251/8 in the first Test match against Pakistan and were bundled out for 253 in the first innings at Sabina Park, Jamaica. Fast bowler Shaheen Afridi eventually returned with figures of 4/59 while Mohammad Abbas scalped a three-wicket haul during the course. Pakistan then had a disappointing start once again as they lost opener Imran Butt for a duck. Abid Ali and Azhar Ali tried to steady the ship for the side and stitched together a partnership of 55 runs for the second wicket before Azhar was cleaned up by Kemar Roach for 23. A couple of more wickets were lost in quick succession as the Babar Azam led team was reduced to 65/4 before the captain was joined by wicket-keeper batsman Rizwan in the middle. The two batters resisted well against the Caribbean bowling attack and scored 56 runs for the fifth wicket. Rizwan was eventually undone by Jason Holder for 30 while Babar notched up a half-century and remained unbeaten at 54 at the end of the third day’s play. At 160/5, Pakistan were leading West Indies by 124 runs at stumps. Roach and Jayden Seales picked up two wickets each for West Indies on the day. Roach admitted that the first hour of play on a penultimate day will be crucial for both sides. “On a pitch that's pretty tough I think we are in a good position, five wickets away from bowling them out and tomorrow first hour will be very crucial to restrict them around 170-200 maybe. I knew I needed to bowl a bit straighter and using the crease and it worked well,” he said after the day’s play.

The Hundred | Rockets vs Originals: When & where to watch match Live, Probable XI, Fantasy XI

Seemingly equal on paper in terms of possessing impact players in their ranks, the contest between the Trent Rockets and the Manchester Originals will be a contest of equals. However, their journey and standings on the points table have not been equal as the Rockets find themselves at the fourth position on the points table while the Originals are languishing at the sixth position. The Rockets have won more games than they have lost out of the seven matches played so far while the Originals have been able to win only two games out of seven games so far this season. The presence of Dawid Malan and Alex Hales gives them solidity and flamboyance at the top of the order while Rashid Khan brings his X-factor to give the Rockets a competitive advantage over other sides. For Originals, Colin Munro, skipper Carlos Brathwaite and Matt Parkinson, who has only strengthened his reputation in the world of cricket in the last few months take the mettle of helping them to win. Trent Rockets vs Manchester Originals Match Number- 29 Date and Time: August 15, 2021, 11:00 pm IST, 06:30 pm Local, 05:30pm GMT Venue: Trent Bridge, Nottingham Live Stream: FanCode Pitch Report The pitch at Trent Bridge is likely to be true in nature and stroke players on both sides will love the ball coming onto their bats. Bowlers should also get decent help with the new ball but the margin of error will be too less due to the true nature of pace and bounce on the surface. Trent Rockets probable XI D Arcy Short, Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Tom Moores (wk), Samit Patel, Steven Mullaney, Lewis Gregory (c), Rashid Khan, Matthew Carter, Marchant de Lange, Samuel Cook Manchester Originals probable XI Philip Salt (wk), Joe Clarke, Colin Munro, Colin Ackermann, Tom Lammonby, Carlos Brathwaite (c), Calvin Harrison, Lockie Ferguson, Tom Hartley, Steven Finn, Matthew Parkinson Fantasy XI Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, Alex Hales (C), Colin Munro, Carlos Brathwaite, Samit Patel, Rashid Khan, Matthew Carter, Steve Finn, Tom Hartley, Rashid Khan(VC).