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England 358 (Smith 111, Brook 56, Asitha 4-102) and 205 for 5 (Root 62*) beat Sri Lanka 236 (Dhananjaya 74, Rathnayake 72) and 326 (Kamindu 113, Chandimal 79) by five wicketsJoe Root provided the calm head for a crisis, while Jamie Smith capped a Player-of-the-Match-winning performance with a vital late injection of impetus, as England overcame a spirited Sri Lanka display with bat and ball to seal a five-wicket win in the first Test, late on the fourth afternoon at Emirates Old Trafford.The victory made it four out of four in the 2024 summer to date, following July’s 3-0 win over West Indies, but as had sometimes been the case in that series, England were not allowed to dictate terms with the authority that they might have envisaged at the halfway stage of the match.Thanks to a sublime century from Kamindu Mendis, the bulk of which came in a 117-run stand with Dinesh Chandimal that spanned the entirety of the morning session, Sri Lanka were able to post a taxing target of 205 for victory.And when a bowling display led once again by Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya picked off each of the top three inside the first 16 overs of the chase, it required England to swallow their Bazball pride to chisel a path to victory at an unusually sedate rate of 3.58 an over.Sedate, that is, until Smith got into his stride. Though fresh from his maiden century in the first innings, when Smith strode out to replace Harry Brook with the chase still in the balance at 119 for 4, he found himself pitched into a pressure situation unlike anything he’d yet surmounted in his short career.Jamie Smith drags one into the leg side•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Smith’s defensive technique soon proved up to the challenge as he crept along to six from his first 26 balls, in which period England went 14.4 overs, spread across a full hour, between boundaries: an uncommonly fallow passage of play for this regime. But then, after cracking back-to-back boundaries through the leg-side off Jayasuriya, the shackles were off. A subsequent six bounced off down an access tunnel and onto the concourse, and he added two further hooks for four off Vishwa Fernando to send Sri Lanka’s pressure scattering, before Asitha castled him with a superb inswinger for 39 from 48.By then, England needed just 22 to win, and with the evening light holding up well despite the torrential rain that had dogged much of the rest of the country, Root and Chris Woakes did the needful shortly after 7.15pm, with Root notching the 96th half-century of his career before blazing the winning boundary over long-on… though not before attempting to seal the deal with a miscued scoop into his grille – a final flourish that proved the team’s prescribed ethos may have been dormant on this occasion, but it won’t be kept down indefinitely.England’s target may have been surprisingly stiff, but they would have been chasing significantly more had it not been for a disciplined docking of Sri Lanka’s tail by England’s seamers, armed with the second new ball, shortly after lunch. In losing their final four wickets in the space of 26 balls, including the last three for five in ten, Sri Lanka’s innings ended much as it had begun (on first day and third), but up until that point, their seventh-wicket stand had all but turned the contest completely on its head.Between Kamindu, who recorded his third hundred in the space of four Tests, and Chandimal, who was last man out for 79 despite having retired hurt on the third afternoon, Sri Lanka transformed their match prospects, and with scarcely a moment of alarm across their 30-over alliance.Related

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Having let a promising position slip with the ball on the third morning, Sri Lanka’s focus was unwavering as the pair resumed on 204 for 6, with a slender lead of 82. They had more than doubled that advantage before Gus Atkinson prised out Kamindu for 113 shortly after lunch, to create an opening that Woakes and Matthew Potts were primed to pile through.From the outset, England’s problems had been compounded by the absence of their fastest bowler, Mark Wood. He left the field after feeling a twinge in his right thigh on Friday evening, and may now be a doubt for the rest of the series.There had been some controversy overnight about the advantageous nature of a ball-change after the 41st over that allowed England’s seamers to obtain significant swing on the third evening. However, after 20 further overs of wear and tear, there was little lateral movement on show as Kamindu seized on a hint of width in Woakes’ first over to flash his first boundary of the day through point.That set the tone for a proactive half-hour, with Chandimal following his partner’s lead as he built on his overnight 20 not out. The fact that he was there at all was remarkable, given the gruesome blow to the thumb that Wood had inflicted on the third afternoon. He had retired hurt on 10, but after an X-ray had given him the all-clear, returned with no ill-effects, although he did later relinquish the wicketkeeping duties, with Kusal Mendis taking over behind the stumps.Kamindu Mendis celebrates his third Test hundred•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Pope rang the changes for England, but none of them had any answer to a burgeoning stand. Kamindu came into this contest with an average in excess of 100 after two centuries and an unbeaten 92 in his three previous Tests, and the range of his strokeplay was apparent in back-to-back boundaries off Atkinson, driven and pulled respectively, plus a ruthless eye for anything loose from the spin of Bashir.Neither a 30-minute rain delay in the second hour of the morning, nor a brief sighting of the new ball before the interval could disrupt Kamindu’s focus, as he rushed through to his third Test hundred with a decisive slash through deep third off Woakes, to send England into lunch with a real battle on their hands.Their immediate prospects after the resumption didn’t look much better. Kamindu surged onto the offensive after the break with a trio of off-side boundaries as Atkinson struggled with his line, but after an intervention from Pope, he switched to round the wicket with instant success. Kamindu fenced at the new angle, shaping into his left-handed stance, and Root at first slip held on a sharp low chance.Atkinson was immediately yanked from the attack, with Potts adding his second of the innings courtesy of a juggled take from Brook at second slip, who parried Jayasuriya’s punch off the back foot, but recovered well to snaffle the rebound. Potts celebrated with a pat of his fluttering heart, having watched two key chances go down during his excellent but under-rewarded spell on day three.Woakes added his third when Vishwa Fernando played down the wrong line to be struck in front of middle and leg, and though Chandimal attempted to cut loose with only Asitha for company, the substitute fielder Harry Singh stayed cool at deep cover to end a superbly gutsy innings.England’s reply so nearly got off to a disastrous start when, on 2, Ben Duckett jabbed his third delivery down the leg-side, to be brilliantly caught by Kusal in his outstretched right glove. However, in an echo of Duckett’s reprieve against Mitchell Starc in last year’s Ashes, the decision was overturned because Kusal’s palm was pushing the ball into the ground as he completed the catch.Dan Lawrence launched a huge straight six off Prabath Jayasuriya•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Asitha was the unlucky bowler, but he made amends in superb fashion in his third over, flipping the shiny side of his swinging new ball to graze a more regulation edge through to Kusal, as Duckett played for the inswinger that had done him in in the first innings.Dan Lawrence, by this stage, had launched Jayasuriya for a wonderfully clean straight six, but in his unfamiliar role as opener, his frailties outside off were consistently probed, not least by Asitha, whose command of seam and swing once again made him the pick of Sri Lanka’s attack.It was Jayasuriya who made the next breakthrough, however, as Pope – familiarly skittish at the start of his innings – climbed into a reverse-sweep on a deliberate leg-stump line, but managed only to toe-end a simple chance to Dhananjaya de Silva at slip for his second score of 6 in the match. And when Lawrence, on 34, was pinned lbw by a nip-backer soon afterwards, England had slipped to a dangerous scoreline of 70 for 3.Root’s and Brook’s response was to bed in for an old-school rebuilding job, adding 49 for the fourth wicket at a rate of less than 3.4 an over – a reflection both of Sri Lanka’s disciplined attack, but also of the relative lack of depth in England’s batting in the absence of Ben Stokes.Jayasuriya maintained his restrictive line from over the wicket, frequently tempting Brook to sweep his way through a packed field behind square, and England could have been four-down before lunch had the substitute fielder Ramesh Mendis clung on his outstretched right hand at backward square, when Brook had just 4 to his name.However, it was Jayasuriya’s reversion to round the wicket that prised the next opening. On 32, Brook failed to account for the drift back into his stumps, and chipped a toe-ended drive back to the bowler, whose catch was upheld despite Root’s initial belief that the ball had again been grounded – a stance that earned him a hard stare from Kusal as the replay flashed up on the big screen.With 86 more needed, then, out came Smith. His selection ahead of Ben Foakes had been largely a consequence of Foakes’ perceived limitations as an attacking batter, particularly when marshalling the tail. But here was the polar opposite challenge: an onus on defence, to provide a trusty sidekick to England’s most admirable and obdurate matchwinner.Smith duly proved worthy of the task, and more. But it was Root – his senior status all the more towering in Stokes’ absence – who was England’s main man in the final analysis.

Worcestershire Rapids ended a run of seven successive defeats in the Vitality Blast and dealt a blow to Leicestershire’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages with a 16-run victory at New Road.Worcestershire achieved their highest score of the season thanks chiefly to Adam Hose’s 63 off just 39 balls, beating last weekend’s previous best of 181for four versus Lancashire Lightning at Emirates Old Trafford.The Leicestershire spinners, Lewis Goldworthy and Rehan Ahmed, both bowled excellent spells which gave them combined figures of 8-0-45-3 before Hose’s late onslaught.But their powerful batting top order line-up was blown away by Tom Taylor and youngster Harry Darley as they were reduced to 28 for 5.Louis Kimber revived Leicestershire’s hopes with their fastest-ever T20 fifty off 21 balls including five sixes in a two-over spell and he and Ben Cox added 85 in eight overs.But his dismissal for 53 ended their hopes of a remarkable win against the odds despite Ben going onto complete a fine 50 off 35 balls. Matthew Waite cleaned up the innings with a stream of late wickets including Cox in the final over for 55 to give him a career-best Blast return of 5 for 21.The injury-hit Rapids have lost several games by tight margins but this was a convincing performance whereas Leicestershire have now gone four games without a win courtesy of two defeats, a tie and a wash-out.Adam Hose top-scored for the Rapids•Getty Images

Leicestershire received a treble boost with captain Peter Handscomb (shoulder), Rehan (concussion) and leading wicket-taker Scott Currie (Injury niggle) all returning to the side.Hanscomb won the toss and put the Rapids into bat and Jimmy Neesham made the first breakthrough when Brett D’Oliveira sliced his shot into the hands of third man. Kashif Ali got into his stride with four and a massive six over backward square leg off successive balls from Josh Hull.Josh Cobb inside edged Mike for four but was then caught down the leg side by former Worcestershire keeper Cox off the same bowler. The Rapids reached 61 for 2 in the powerplay but then Gareth Roderick made room to hit Rehan through the off side and was bowled.Kashif, having hit Goldsworthy for a straight six, was given out lbw next ball aiming a blow to the legside. His 41 came off 25 balls with two sixes and three fours. Ethan Brookes also perished aiming to hit Goldsworthy to leg and was bowled but Hose looked in good form and kept the scoreboard moving at a decent rate for the Rapids.Ed Pollock fell to a good catch over his shoulder at long off by Kimber off Currie who next ball trapped Waite lbw as Worcestershire lost momentum. But Hose ensured a sizeable total with a series of big hits as he completed a 33-ball half-century before on 63 he was caught by Cox attempting to scoop Neesham.When Leicestershire replied Rishi Patel, the competition’s leading scorer with 400 runs, was bowled for a duck driving at Taylor. There was joy then for Darley with his first Blast wicket as Rehan sliced the ball to Brookes at wide third. Darley then bowled a wide but his second legitimate ball accounted for Handscomb who clipped straight to Pollock atmid wicket to leave the Foxes 9 for 3.There was no let-up for the visitors and Taylor struck again as Sol Budinger went for a big hit and was caught behind and Waite then disposed of Neesham in the same manner. Then came the remarkable hitting from Kimber to revive the Foxes; chances before he holed out to Cobb in the covers off Brookes.Two wickets in two balls from Waite ensured there would be no late heroics from Leicestershire as he got rid of Mike and Goldsworthy. He struck twice more in the final over in sending back Cox and Currie to complete his five-for.

Kane Williamson, New Zealand’s captain, said his team would need time to regroup after the disappointment of their group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup, but could not confirm whether he’d be back for another tilt at the title when the tournament returns in India and Sri Lanka in 2026.Williamson, who turns 34 in August, has been a mainstay of New Zealand’s greatest white-ball team for more than a decade, having helped his side reach at least the semi-finals in seven of the ten consecutive World Cups that he has played in, across 20- and 50-over formats, since 2011.In that time, New Zealand have played in three finals – with Williamson’s personal contributions including a Player-of-the-Tournament display in England in 2019 and an innings of 85 from 48 balls in defeat to Australia in Dubai in 2021. But, with his long-time team-mate Trent Boult having already confirmed this current tournament was his last T20 World Cup, Williamson recognises that a changing of the guard could be on the cards.”Oh, I don’t know,” he said, when asked if he’d still be involved in New Zealand’s T20I set-up in 2026. “There’s a bit of time between now and then, so it’s about regrouping as a side. We’ve got red-ball cricket over the next year basically, so it’s back into some other international formats, and we’ll see where things land.”New Zealand’s most notable victory of recent years came in the Test format in 2021, when Williamson captained the team to victory over India in the World Test Championship final in Southampton. The two teams are set for a Test rematch in India’s own conditions later this year, with New Zealand also slated for a three-match home series against England in December, and a four-match tour of Australia in 2026-27.Kane Williamson guided New Zealand over the line against Papua New Guinea•Getty Images

All of which could take precedence for Williamson, who played his 100th Test earlier this year alongside another of his long-standing team-mates Tim Southee, and who could yet become the first New Zealand batter to reach 10,000 Test runs (he currently has 8743).Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show, Stephen Fleming, the former New Zealand captain, said that Williamson would be afforded the time he needs and deserves to figure out his next move, but that his priorities were bound to have altered as he enters the final years of his illustrious career.”It hasn’t really been questioned over here, due to his genius with the bat, but he has to make a decision now after a disappointing World Cup,” Fleming said. “What does his future hold? Is it all three formats, is it franchise cricket, is it family time? He will be getting to that point where he starts making decisions that have other influences, whereas before it was cricket and cricket only.”He will be afforded the luxury of time, because he’s a generational player and he’ll be hurting a lot. The older New Zealand players would have looked at this as maybe their last good opportunity, so it might be that it’s time to move on, or he’ll steel himself to right the wrongs for the next one. But he’s not a guy that gives away a lot, so it’d be interesting to see what he does.”On the specifics of this latest campaign, Williamson admitted that New Zealand had been too slow to adjust to the challenge that they faced in the Caribbean, where a strong Afghanistan and the hosts West Indies proved too powerful in a tough Group C.”It took a long time to start and then, in a matter of days, we were not in contention, which was frustrating,” Williamson said. “We played against a couple of very strong sides who are very well equipped in these conditions and unfortunately that was the difference in our first two games.”All in all it’s frustrating, but there’ll be learnings for the players that come back to this part of the world. These conditions have been somewhat challenging, so they are some good experiences to have going forward.”

Fast bowler Anrich Nortje will play for South Africa for the first time since the 2024 T20 World Cup final after being named in their T20I squad to face India next month.Nortje has been on the sidelines with a recurrence of a stress fracture but made a comeback for Dolphins in the ongoing T20 Challenge. He has played five matches and is currently ninth on the wicket charts. His inclusion suggests South Africa are considering him for next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.Nortje was not named in the ODI squad for matches that will be played before the T20Is in India. Regular captain Temba Bavuma returned to lead the side after missing the Pakistan series through injury but Tristan Stubbs was dropped from the squad. Rubin Hermann, who made his debut against Pakistan, kept his place.In the T20I squad, Quinton de Kock’s return left no room for Ryan Rickelton, who will be sweating over whether he will make the T20 World Cup squad. De Kock, who scored an unbeaten 123 in the second ODI against Pakistan, had scores of 1, 23, 7 and 0 in the four T20Is he has played since his comeback, but he averages 50.88 and strikes at 142.23 in T20Is in India.With Reeza Hendricks also returning, hard-hitting Lhuan-de Pretorius did not find a spot in the T20I squad. Donovan Ferreira, who captained South Africa in the T20Is against Pakistan, retained his spot while Dewald Brevis is back after a low-grade muscle strain ruled him out midway in that tour.David Miller also made a comeback to the T20I squad, having last played for South Africa at the Champions Trophy in March.The ODIs will be played on November 30, December 3 and December 6 in Ranchi, Raipur and Visakhapatnam, respectively, while the five T20Is will be held from December 9-19.

South Africa’s ODI squad vs India

Temba Bavuma (capt), Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Rubin Hermann, Keshav Maharaja, Marco Jansen, Aiden Markram, Ryan Rickelton, Prenelan Subrayen

South Africa’s T20I squad vs India

Aiden Markram (capt), Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marzo Jansen, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Tristan Stubbs, Keshav Maharaj

In a record-breaking event, Services defeated Assam in just 90 overs, making it the shortest completed match in Ranji Trophy history.The match set a new mark in terms of balls bowled (540) to reach a result, surpassing the previous record of 547 from the 1961-62 clash between Delhi and Railways. Only 359 runs were scored and 32 wickets fell.The game also saw a historic feat: two bowlers from Services – left-arm spinner Arjun Sharma and left-arm seamer Mohit Jangra – claimed hat-tricks in the same innings, the first time this has occurred in the Ranji Trophy’s 91-year history.